The present invention relates generally to apparatus for associating one or more foodstuffs with a pastry shell. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for associating a foodstuff such as pepperoni or cheese with a pizza pie shell.
A known apparatus designed for the automatic assembling of pizza pies is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643. According to the basic concept of that patent, a conveyor is intermittently driven to sequentially index pastry shells to each of a plurality of food processing stations at which an appropriate foodstuff (e.g. tomato sause, pepperoni, cheese) is associated with the pastry shell. In the associating of pepperoni with the pastry shell a plurality of bodies of pepperoni and a cutting blade are movable relative to each other in order to sever pieces of the pepperoni from the pepperoni bodies. A chute is provided for receiving the slices of pepperoni which slide along the bottom of the chute and are discharged onto the pastry shell.
Experience has shown that with pepperoni of a relatively low fat content a system such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643 is generally capable of associating pepperoni slices with the pastry shells in its intended manner. However, with pepperoni of relatively high fat content, and commercially available pepperoni has, in fact, been tending to have a high fat content, the pepperoni slices tend to get jammed in the chute after a short period of operation. This is because the high fat content of the pepperoni results in a high frictional engagement between the pepperoni slices and the surface of the chute. After short periods of time the pepperoni slices begin to stick to the surface of the chute. This has meant that a system such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643 has not been found satisfactory for associating slices of pepperoni having a high fat content with a pizza pie shell.
Additionally, in the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643, after a slice of pepperoni has been cut from next to the end of a stick of pepperoni, the remaining or butt end piece of pepperoni may have a thickness which is less than the designed thickness of a slice of pepperoni. This thin piece of pepperoni cannot be gripped and in sliding between the various plates may jam the pepperoni station. In fact, during operation of a pepperoni station constructed in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643 for an extended period of time, the leftover pepperoni slices have jammed the pepperoni station to such an extent that the pepperoni processing equipment was inoperative.
Also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,643 is a food processing station at which cheese is designed to be automatically grated and deposited on a pastry shell which has been indexed to a position below the grater. Bodies of cheese are vertically supported between the walls of a holder with their bottom edges resting on a fixed planar surface. Movement of the cheese holder slides these bottom edges along the fixed planar surface and into engagement with a series of cusps for grating the cheese. The holder is then returned to its original position and depends upon the bodies of cheese falling by gravity to bring their bottom edges in engagement with the planar surface.
Experience has further shown, however, that such a cheese grating station often does not function for long periods of time in its intended manner. The dragging of the cheese along the planar surface creates a retarding frictional force against that lower end portion of the cheese. This retarding force urges the cheese body against at least one of the vertical walls of the holder. The cheese body thus develops a high frictional engagement with the vertical walls of the holder and this frictional engagement sometimes resists falling of the cheese by gravity into correct position against the planar surface.